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Denver Broncos / NFL

Broncos realize it's best to hit playoffs with a head of steam

Posted:
12/25/2012 12:01:00 AM MST

Cleveland Browns wide receiver Josh Cribbs fumbles a punt in the second half Sunday at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. The Broncos recovered the ball. The Broncos won their 10th consecutive game, 34-12, and host the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday. (AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post)

Is it hot in here or is it just the Broncos?

And while playoff seeding, who gets the bye and who doesn't, is always a major part of the December discussion in the NFL, it's really the heat index that should get the attention.

The teams that are roaring down the stretch, "the ones that are the hottest," as Broncos coach John Fox puts it, consistently building momentum along the way, those are the ones to keep an eye on in the salary-cap era.

More than one top seed, having clinched a playoff berth a few weeks out, has rested starters to close out the regular season, worked through a bye week, then lost to a team that had battled, and won, for weeks to make the postseason field.

The Giants were 7-7 last season and went on to win the Super Bowl as a No. 4 seed, without a bye. The Packers won the Super Bowl the year before that as a No. 6 seed, and the Giants won the Super Bowl to close out the 2007 season as a No. 6 seed.

And in one the Broncos will remember, the Steelers won the Super Bowl to close out the 2005 season as a No. 6 seed. Those are three No. 6 seeds and a No. 4 seed with the trophy from the past seven Super Bowls.

"That's why you want home games, but you can't let your guard down about all the other stuff," Broncos cornerback Champ Bailey said. "If you let your guard down in December and January, then you find out everything you did before that doesn't help you. That's why you just keep going. If you're hot, you want to stay hot."

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So the best of all worlds is a top seed that plays, and acts, like a team that had to claw its way into the playoff field.

And with a nod toward the Seahawks these days, the Broncos are the league's hottest team, with 10 consecutive victories after a 2-3 start. Mike Shanahan's Redskins have the next-longest winning streak, at six after, yes, a 2-3 start.

The Packers have a four-game winning streak and were — this is known as a trend — 2-3 to open the season. The Seahawks have won four in a row and were 4-5 on Halloween.

"The finish line isn't the playoffs, it's getting that ring," Bailey said. "And if you've been here for a while, you know to play the game in front of you, because if you worry about the rest, it won't matter anyway. You'll be watching at home."

Key matchupIn almost any other season, folks would be talking about which awards Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles should receive for what he has done in a season after reconstructive knee surgery.

He's third in the league in rushing (1,456 yards), has averaged 5.4 yards per carry, has two 200-yard rushing games and has three touchdown runs of at least 80 yards. Just by comparison, the Vikings' Adrian Peterson, who leads the NFL in rushing and is threatening the single-season record after knee surgery, has two 200-yard rushing games this season and has two scoring runs of at least 80 yards.

But Charles plays for the 2-13 Chiefs, who are 31st in the league in passing (the Vikings are 32nd) and have been a turnover factory on offense, with the team's quarterbacks having thrown 20 interceptions and lost seven fumbles.

Charles, however, represents the Chiefs' ability to deal the Broncos a loss in the regular-season finale Sunday. If the Broncos let Charles loose, they'll be talking about the game that got away.

Comparison shoppingFifteen games in, the Broncos are one of only three teams ranked among the NFL's top six in rushing defense and pass defense. The Broncos are third against the run and tied for sixth against the pass.

The Steelers (7-8) are No. 1 against the pass and No. 2 against the run, while the 49ers (10-4-1) are No. 6 against the run and No. 4 against the pass.

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